Typical products and local development: the case of Parma area Filippo Arfini1, Cristina Mora2 1 Department of Agricultural Economics and Forestry, University of Parma, is responsible for § 2 2 Department of Agricultural Economics and Forestry, University of Parma, is responsible for § 1 and 3 Contribution appeared in Arfini, F. and Mora, C. (Eds.) (1997) “Typical and Traditional Products: Rural Effect and Agro-Industrial Problems”, proceedings of the 52nd EAAE Seminar, pp. 11 - 40 June 19-21, 1997 Parma, Italy Copyright 1997 by Filippo Arfini and Cristina Mora. All rights reserved. Readers may make verbatim copies of this document for non-commercial purposes by any means, provided that this copyright notice appears on all such copies. Typical and traditional productions: Rural effect and agro-industrial problems 52"d EAAE Seminar - Parma, June 19-21 1997 FILIPPO ARFINI, CRISTINA MORA ZANETTl Typical products and local development: the case of Parma area ABSTRACT The pwpose of this study is to check the presence of reciprocal synergies between typical and traditional products and local development. The area in question is the province of Parma, where the presence and intensification of relations between the primmy and secondmy1 sector were, in the first fifty years of the centwy, the deciding factors of the economic development (Basini and Forestieri, 1989; Giacomini and Mora, 1996). To analyse this case we used the method of the chain-analyses, to study Parmigiana Reggiano Cheese (PR), and the idea of agro-industrial districts to examine Parma Raw Ham case. 1. THELOCALECONOMY 1.1 The development: an outline 2 Parma faced the first fifty years of the century with a renewed agriculture , from a technological point of view, and a large number of firms which undertook the processing of ' F. Arfini, Ist.Ec.Agraria-Universita.di Parma ,is responsible for§ 2 C. Mora, lst.Ec.Agraria-Universita.di Parma, is responsible for§ I and 3. 1 In I 890 the processing of agricultural products used 30% of the employed workers, milling industries more than a half and cheese dairies 23% of the whole. The first industry census in 19 I l showed that a good 245 firms out of 594 were interested in the processing of agricultural products. In I 927 "the most important industries of the province were those which were based on the processing of agricultural products: food preservation, dairy , milling, and pork industry." (Lo Monaco, 1930). 2 On this subject it is important to underline the privileged relation that has always characterised the agricultural world and the most important local banking company (Cassa di Rispannio of Parma, today of Parma and Piac-enza). (Basini G.L., Forestieri G., I 989). 11 Filippo Arfini, Cristina Mora Zanetti agricultural products, even if they still had artisan peculiarities. Moreover, at the end of the First World War, the chief food-industries had to increase production to meet the rising demand by stimulating the expansion of agricultural cultivation: the production of sugar­ beets increased: 8,000 tons in 1918 and 24,500 in 1920; in 1924 the production oftomatoes tripled, compared to the production of 1919. The chief industries were those which were based on the processing of agricultural products: food preservation industry, dairy industry, milling and pork industry, etc. These are typical local industries not only because they are based on the processing of local agricultural products, but also because they are grounded 3 on local capitals • After a long period of crisis (1930-1945), Parma, which had come out of the war conflict less damaged than other cities and with a production system specialised in agro-food, lived more intensely than other provinces the period of fast development of the Italian economy which is named "economic miracle". Since the first years of the post-war the local economic growth had been faster than the national and regional one, to the point that during these years the income per person was higher than the national one by 20,5 % and by 15,6% compared to the regional datum. Development was favoured especially by the rapid growth of the secondary and the services sector. From 1936 to 1961 the assets of the primary sector passed from 59,6% of the total amount to 32%, and the agricultural added value passed from 60% to 32%. In 1951 the economy of Parma was more bounded to the primary sector than the regional economy (34%) and the national one (23%); however, 25 years lat~r the relative economic prominence passed from agriculture to industry, which recorded· one of the most important growths in the country. During these years Parma lived a period of real change, in the economic and social field, which had a weigh upon the features of the primary sector and upon its importance in the local production system. Moreover, the Sixties recorded a rapid and general improvement of the living standard and of the private income, and this caused a rapid growth of the demand of foodstuffs and agricultural products, followed by positive effects upon the income of the sector. However, the real development of this area took place during the last years of the Sixties, when the country was taking the road of the great economic growth, and it was stirred at first by the big business, then by a characterisation at local level (North-East and Centre area) and with sectorial peculiarities; from the traditional manufacturing industry (textile-clothing, shoe-manufacturing, food industry) to sectors characterised by mechanical specialisation. 3 The industry censm of 1927 is the only source of information about the industrial structure of this period. 12 Typical products and local development: the case of Parma area Tab. 1: Food industry and its manufacturing equipment Pasta and bak:mg, pastry, 6,200 6,500 382 cereals, sugar,.' soup~; frozen-' food Dairy produds, milk, ice- .. 2,600 2,000 37 creams Animal preserv~s artd · · 1,600 4,000 170 butchering · . Vegetable and :fruit.preserves 450 1,255 185 Drinks: mineral waters, non 80 300 6 alcoholic drinks, Wines, spirits. Other sectors: fishing industry; 340 150 59 feeding, etc. Food Equipment 2,200 8,700 1, 187 Total (food and. eq~ipment) · 13,470 22,905 2,026 Total (industry 3:.11~PJlt1~iCE3:~) ... .. .. ~}!?99 65,000 3,747 Source: Unione Parmense Industriali, 1996 * ISTAT, 1991 Census. SALES FOOD INDUSTRY, 1995 Pasta and baking 52% Vegetable conserves Animal 4% conserves 14% 13 Filippo Arfini, Cristina Mora Zanetti SALES OF INDUSTRY AND HANDICRAFT, 1995 Food Others 47% 13% ~~__....,~--:---:--~~~ Plasti Chemiafilian pharma. 3% Glass-making Metal and rnech. 10% 5% 19% Parma represents 114 of the workers of the regional food industry, which is second at national level, and 3.5% of the national total amount. Tab.2: Local unity (UL) and employed (Ad), food industly and other connected industries UI Ad UI Ad UI Ad UI Ad UI Ad Tot. I 083 5 097 I 133 7 957 1484 11133 1849 14550 1352 13 960 Source: ISTAT Parma places itself, also, among the first Italian cities for its living standard and its income per head. The composition of its production reveals, moreover, the ascent of the services sector, which covers today 60% of the value of the local production of goods and services. Moreover, the composition of the workers points out a generalised expansion of the tertiary sector in the economy of Parma. Tab. 3: Some economic indicators of the primmy sector 1936 59,6 60,1 1951 48,7 42,3 1961 32,2 32,4 1971 19,3 13,2 1981 12,7 6,6 1991 8,9 5,3 1996 7,5 3.5 *on the economic total amount Source: our calculations 14 Typical products and local development: the case of Parma area 1.2 Parma agri-business From the analyses of the composition and value of the Saleable Gross Output4 it is possible to get the quantitative aspects of the specialisation process performed by parmesan agriculture. Today livestock production covers 80% of the output, with an increasing quota of milk. The prevailing importance of livestock production makes pannesan agriculture similar to notihern European countries; as a result, at national level, livestock covers 34% of the total Final Output (46% in Northern Italy), while in the countries ofNorthern Europe it covers a superior percentage: 64% in Holland, 62% in Belgium and France; 71 % in Germany. Today big proportions of agricultural (tomatoes, sugarbeets) and livestock production are transformed straightway by local industrial equipment whose dimensions are capable of gathering also, and most of all, products coming from other areas, just as it happens for milk and durum wheat. Tab. 4: Final Output ofagriculture, chosen years (composition) i\:'J."fj1'i';~;;·g1:"! ~i)']j'¥it•1~'mll 1;:~1tW;(,1f~fh~trN~.. ,r~:·A·'!i·t~~~~ Vegetable production 55.56 52.47 39.8 35.66 29.55 26.33 19, 7 Livestock: 44.45 47.54 60.20 64.33 70.45 73.67 80.3 cow's milk 14.82 17.85 26.38 32.24 34.44 36.01 61.59 *: provisional data Source: elaboration about data of different origin The remaining agricultural production quota is assigned to the processing (industrial and/or artisan) of products which are protected by DCO (Designation of Controlled Origin) 5 and/or DPO (Designation of Protected Origin). Parmigiano Reggiano cheese , typical pork such as Prosciutto di Parma, Culatello di Zibello (both DPO), Salame di Felino, Coppa di Parma and typical wines and mushrooms (Borgotaro). There are two distinct typologies of the production process: the production of ham follows industrial schemes, while the production of Parrnigiano and wine is based on artisan methods.